INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY AND TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER IN NIGERIA: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES

Technology, no doubt, is the bedrock of national development. Since no nation is an island of knowledge, nations, in pursuit of development have, rather than depend solely on their own capabilities, sought and taken leads of technological successes made by other nations to enable them to either perfect already existing domestic technological innovations or to attain breakthrough in whole new areas. Despite acceding to various international treaties and agreements, enacting legislations and setting up institutions aimed at acquiring and absorbing the technological knowledge required for the building of a sound national technological base, Nigeria has remained undeveloped with little or no technological activity. This work examines the factors militating against the inflow of technology into Nigeria and the ways through which technological knowledge may be acquired and absorbed for desired national development. The work basically adopted the doctrinal and comparative research methods to analyse the scope of the legal framework for technology transfer in Nigeria and the issues inhibiting technological inflow into Nigeria and its enterprises. The work finds that most of Nigeria’s intellectual property and technology transfer laws are either obsolete or under-implemented. It is suggested that technology transfer laws are tailored towards Nigeria’s special local circumstances. Pro-active application and implementation of the TRIPS Agreement is also suggested to remove inhibitions for technology acquisition. There is, therefore, need for robust government policy and planning to overcome the challenges facing technology transfer into Nigeria.